James french



J. FRENCH.

Ore Washer.

Patented June 4. 1867.

Witnesses lnventon AM. PHDTO-LlTHDfim Nil-(OSBORNE? PROCESS.)

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TO ALL WHOM IT MAY CONCERN:

Be it known that I, JAMES FRENCH, of Bcllevernon, in the county of Fayette, and State of'Pennsylvania, have invented a new and useful improvement in Sand-Washers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of my improved sand-washer; and

Figure 2 is a sectional view formed by a vertical plane passing through the reservoir and supply and discharging pipes.

Like letters of reference indicate like parts.

Certain qualities or kinds of sand are of extensive use in the arts for various purposes, but commonly before being used they have to be cleansed of the gravel,loain, or other impure earthy or vegetable matter which may chance to be mixed with them, Myinvention has this for its object, and consists in the construction of an apparatus for sifting and washing sand, passing it, for the purpose of washing, from one cistern to another, and finally discharging it into a proper receptacle when sufficiently purified.

To enable others skilled in the art to make and usemy invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and mode of operation.

The sand in a pulverized state is thrown into a trough, a, where it receives water from a pump or reservoir properly constructed for such purpose, by which it-is washed down the trough a to the riddle-box b, which is pivoted on the supports 5. In the bottom of the riddle-box b is the riddle a, made usually of wire, of the ordinary construction, and suliiciently open to allow the sand to be washed or sifted through. vibratory motion is communicated to the riddle-box 6 by operating against one or more of its supports, 6, pins or projections, (I, so adjusted in number and position on the side of the wheel e as to give thcbox Z, by the revolution of the wheel a, a motion in one direction, the metallic spring a forcing it back with a sudden and rapid movement. Thus the gravel, stone, lumps of sand or loam, or other unpulveriz'cd matter, are discharged ofi" the open end of the riddle-box 5. The sand and water, after passing through the riddle c, are carried down the chute f, and discharged into the open cistern g. Commonly I provide a number of such open cisterns, two, three, or more, 9 9'5 as may be necessary. On an axle, 7), extending from the wheel (2, and running in properly-constructed bearings, I hang any required number of elevating-wheels, or, usually one to each cistern gg, Ste. On the outer face of the rims of the wheels m I attach blades, rt 11, in any desirable number, and of any convenient size, and attach them in such a way that they shall project outward from the rims of the wheels m, and'also so that their working faces shall make an angle of about fifteen degrees, more or less, at pleasure, with a plane passing through each such blade 72, and through the axis of the axle 72, and longitudinally therewith. The inclination or slope of the blades on 12- must be such that at the point for discharging the sand therefrom such inclination will be in the direction in which the sand is to be discharged, and usually in a direction opposite to that from which sand is received into the cistern g g, the better to discharge it into the next cistern. In the rear part of the cisterns g g, &c., I construct concave troughs or channels, the upper ends of which are shown atpp, fig. 2, in which to operate the wheels at m. The radius of the concavity 'of such troughs 1; I make equal to or slightly in excess of the distance from the centre of the axle 7L to the outer extremity of the blades 'n n, so that with properly-constructed sides to the troughs p the blades or buckets a a will work closely though freely therein. At any required height I place the reservoir, Z, and supply it with water in any convenient manner. From it the pipes o o, fitted with valves, cocks, or sliding gates, o 0, to regulate the supply of water, lead downward so as to discharge water against or on to the upper or working faces of the blades n n, which elevate the sand from the bottoms of the cisterns g g g, up the concave troughs p p in the rear. When the blades or buckets a a reach the upper ends of those troughs, and are at or a little below the lower ends of the pipes 0 a, they receive water, therefrom, as above stated, and as they slope downwards from the pipes o, and toward the opposite edges of the rims of the wheels m, the current of water so received washes the sand off them, carries it into the recesses s s, the bottoms of which are made even with the lower side edges of the blades 'n a at the point where they discharge, and thence down the spouts a: a; into the next receiving cistern 9, K50. In each of these cisterns, g g", the washing is repeated substantially as above stated, till from the last recess,

s, it is discharged by a pipe or spout, x, into any desirable receptacle. In the process as described, heavy impure earthy or mineral matter is discharged from the riddle-box I. Only the pulverized sand and loam and other light vegetable or earthy'matter are passed through the riddle'e. Such loam or vegetable matter usually being light, mixes with the water-in a mechanical mixture, particularly as the latter is kept-in a state of agitation in the cisterns {/g, &e., and is carried off'by the surplus or waste water through the holes :4 2, leading from the rear of the cisterns, and thence discharged, fresh water being received to supply such waste by the pipes 0 o, as above described. Thepoint at which the sand is washed fromthe blades n n by jets of water from the pipes o 0, may be in the horizontal plane'passing through the axes of the wheels m, or above or below such planes, at pleasure. The blades 1!. n may also be fiat, as shown in the drawings, or have a concave shape, provided the concavity be not so great as to prevent the free discharge of the sand therefrom. I apply my invention not only to the purposes named, but also to cleansing or washing crushed or pulverized quartz, rocks, or' ores, or other substances requiring such treatment.

What I claim as my'invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

, 1. Washing and elevating sand by a wheel working vertically, or nearly so, in a concave trough, such wheel being provided on its outer circumference with blades inclined to the plane passing through them, and longitudinally through the axis of the wheel to which they are attached, substantially as and for the purposes above set forth. v v

2. The method of elevating and discharging sand from onefbasin into another by carrying the sand up on the blades of one or more elevating-wheels, and washing it'into another basin or cistern by a jet or jets of waterplaying on such blades, substantially as and for the purposes described.

In testimony whereof I, the said JAMES FRENCH, have hereunto set my hand in presence of-- JAMES FRENCH.

Witnesses:

A. S. NICHOLSON, G120. H. OHmsrY. 

